In 1951, an era of atomic testing in the Nevada desert began as an Air Force plane dropped a one-kiloton bomb on Frenchman Flat.

In 1967, astronauts Virgil I. "Gus" Grissom, Edward H. White and Roger B. Chaffee died in a flash fire during a test aboard their Apollo spacecraft. More than 60 nations signed a treaty banning the orbiting of nuclear weapons.

In 1977, the Vatican issued a declaration reaffirming the Roman Catholic Church's ban on female priests.

In 1984, singer Michael Jackson suffered serious burns to his scalp when pyrotechnics set his hair on fire during the filming of a Pepsi-Cola TV commercial at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

Ten years ago: The Bush administration dismissed Iraq's response to U.N. disarmament demands as inadequate. Meanwhile, chief U.N. inspector Hans Blix charged that Iraq had never genuinely accepted U.N. resolutions demanding its disarmament and warned that "cooperation on substance" was necessary for a peaceful solution.

Five years ago: Former Indonesian president Suharto, whose regime killed hundreds of thousands of left-wing political opponents, died in Jakarta at age 86. Gordon B. Hinckley, the 15th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died in Salt Lake City, Utah, at age 97. Novak Djokovic fended off unseeded Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the Australian Open final, earning his first Grand Slam title. Evan Lysacek (LY'-suh-chehk) won his second-straight title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships in St. Paul, Minn.

One year ago: Addressing students at the University of Michigan, President Barack Obama issued a warning to the nation's colleges and universities, threatening to strip their federal aid if they "jack up tuition" every year and to give the money instead to schools showing restraint and value. A federal judge in Seattle sentenced "Barefoot Bandit" Colton Harris-Moore to 61/2 years in prison for his infamous two-year, international crime spree of break-ins and boat and plane thefts. Former Boston Mayor Kevin H. White died at age 82.